2 ms·

You don’t tease your male friends and coworkers? I think it’s more of a bonding ritual than anything (a moment of false vulnerability/social danger that resolv

• Daub 3y ago
  Maybe we (males to other males) do something similar to teasing... But with a crueler streak. I knew I could call my Irish colleague a freind the day he called me an Englsh wanker. Conversely, a former girlfriend said that she did not consider me as a romantic partner until the first time I teased her. I can't remember what form it took, but there is no way it would have involved me calling her a wanker.
  • chaorace 3y ago
    What you describe sounds almost exactly like the definition of playful teasing laid out in the article: > For playful teasing to be successfully interpreted as affiliative rather than aggressive, the teaser, to some extent, has to understand the recipient's expectations and predict their likely reaction. Likewise, the recipient needs to draw accurate inferences and correctly identify the teaser's intent as affiliative, looking beyond any mildly abrasive behavioural elements. The stark difference in social boundaries you observe is actually an affirmation of the hypothesis that playful teasing acts as a social tool for discovering how to navigate different individual social dynamics.